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Why I Considered Leaving Transcription

by Joanna Norman

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If you’ve read my blog at all, you know that I really love working as a transcriptionist, but I recently contemplated leaving the field. Spoiler – I didn’t. I’m still a transcriptionist. I’m still processing how this all played out and writing about it here helps me. So thanks for reading/listening. 

Here’s what happened. A non-profit organization for which I’ve been a volunteer for 10 years opened a new position with the possibility of working remotely. The job description was a perfect fit for my skills and passions. So I applied and even as I applied, I was feeling torn about it. I made a weighted pro and con list about comparing the new job and my current work. (If you’re not familiar with this idea, here’s a simple app you can use: T-Charts (Pros and Cons.) There wasn’t a clear winner. Each choice had it’s own benefits and drawbacks. The new position would have been full time, working from home, but likely with a less flexible schedule and more stress, I’m sure. But the work was for an organization that is doing important work that I care about deeply. I landed on this: if I got an offer, whether or not I would take it depended on the compensation. 

Then I was selected for an initial interview and during that interview I was given a ballpark for the salary. Holy cow! The compensation was outstanding, and it was benefits eligible. Then I was selected for a second interview. I did quite a bit of prep for the interview and enjoyed the work. The interview went really well. I was gaining confidence that I would really like the work that I would be doing. Then I waited to see if I got the offer. I started to get excited about having no more financial worries, no more tight budgets. Mind you, I‘m perfectly content with my simple lifestyle, but I started dreaming about taking my kids back to visit China or helping them buy a car or going on other traveling adventures that would require more money than I currently have. 

Then I got the call. I did not get the job. They said I interviewed well and it was tough to decide between me and the person they offered it to which was nice to hear. I was a bit surprised at how disappointed I was that I didn’t get the job. I think I was disappointed because I felt like it was one of the few positions and organizations where the importance of the work and my passion for it would be enough to make me reenter the work-force full time. And the money would have been nice too, really nice. But I wasn’t very upset or even that sad, which tells me that I am truly content and happy with my simple life, without a lot of money. And that is a good place to be. So maybe I’ll never get to take my kids to China. But I can drive or fly to wherever they are any time they need me because I can take my work with me, or just leave it behind for a few weeks. And I can spend the summer months going on adventures in my camper. 

I think it is good sometimes to reexamine our choices in life. That was what this experience allowed me to do. And it was nice to reaffirm that, for now, I’m happy with my choices and they are serving me well. I hope I could be saying the same thing if I had gotten the job. It’s not a bad thing to have two good choices! Thanks for listening.